A Sense Urgency; The Lundy needs Emergency Repairs to its Walls and floors

    Due to the years of absentee owner neglect and at best a lukewarm Ohio Historical Society interest in its preservation, over the past decade, the Benjamin Lundy home, located at 506 Union Street, Mt. Pleasant, is the ONLY national landmark in Southeastern Ohio and for its regional counties, which border the Ohio River.

     Recently, a set of experts, including a foundation expert,  an experienced structural engineer and a very experienced certified historical building roofer have stated, that the walls, roof and the floors are showing such signs of movement and new cracking all within the past six weeks, [mainly due to heavy spring storms that have poured thru the aging roof in certain areas] which has done serious damage to the home, that a clear emergency situation now exists
at the home.

     The recent water damage is so severe, in some parts, that the cracks inside interior walls are growing at a rate of an inch every two weeks, in a manner that doesn't bode well for the present.  New ones have appeared in the past month inside of the second floor front area that is showing particularly structural failure.

    The Lundy is a 200 year old abolitionist and underground rail road residence which has survived the history of America, from its earliest antebellum era Quaker town orgins to the modern day era.

     In 1974, the house was officially designated by the Dept of Interior as a house of "national significance" due to its three part role in the pre civil war anti slavery era, which was fueled by the Quaker stern anti slavery stance found in all of Mt. Pleasant, which itself, has been since designated as a entire town, a National Landmark itself.

    The home is "weeks or a month or so, even one very bad storm " away from failure, as per one structural engineer who recently just visited the last remaining 'free labor' residence, the last such "free labor store" in continual existence in America as the large bronze historical marker placed on the front lawn of the home just in 2003, references.

    "This home must be saved if we care anything about the origins of our nation's most important internal conflict ...the civil war and the struggle for human rights inside this nation in the 19th Century.  Its a epic residence and it has no peer in Ohio and in particular in southeastern Ohio and it matches any any antebellum or civil rights location or structure in America in significance and importance" says, the Director of the Midwest Center, and recent buyer/owner Richard A. Olivito who is trying along w/ a few dedicated friends to save the residence.

    "I appreciate the efforts that have been made by my small group of friends here in Jefferson County, in the past 60 days going forward and the fact that the OHS and even others have expressed renewed interest in saving the Lundy.

      I know Congressman Bob Johnson's staff has expressed immediate regard for the home's renovation and this very very encouraging and also, given the Executive Director of the State of Ohio's NAACP Royal Mayo is a close associate and friend, I have certain hope that we can find the necessary interest among government and private foundations that will value this house for what it represents and what it has stood the last two centuries for inside our historic
region of Ohio.  I of course, have also spoken to Representive Lou Gentile about the same and he's in agreement that something ought to be done to try to preserve the residence, where it can be found."

    "I believe we can save it and i've been told it is capable of being saved, by very good experts, including our most recent addition to our team, Historical Preservationist Architect Steve Ardonov, of Wheeling, which is also very encouraging, but, its simply a race against time.  The engineers and the contractors arent as optimistic in terms of the time line we have to save this house" Olivito says.

    "I hope it just isn't too little too late, especially on the part of the Ohio Historical Society and those who were responsible for its condition, in the past decade.  I don't have much regard for those in higher places, in the past, who allowed this amazing historical national significant site, the only one of its kind of at least five counties or more in southern Ohio, to fall into such disrepair.  Nonetheless, it has such major potential however, if we can save it and help place Mt. Pleasant itself, on the map, so to speak, as a town of pivotal early american history.  I'm determined to do just that where we can"